2002 Archtop 1 Piezo | jscalamusic

2002 Paul Reed Smith Archtop 1 Piezo

** Sunburst **

Rare Find

These deep body guitars were only built from 1998-2003

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I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Here are some things to think about as you look through them. Read more at the bottom of the listing page.

2002 McCarty Archtop 1 Piezo. (Not the common Hollowbody 1&2 that everyone has)
Four-inch deep body
Prototypes completed in 1997 for roll-out at the 1998 NAMM show
Only produced from 1998 through 2003. A rare find only available through Private Stock now
A smooth player with excellent electric and acoustic tone in one instrument
An OUTSTANDING instrument for looping performers.
Achieves a full range of tones to carry a player in ANY genre
The unplugged sound is rich and resonant
Local pick-up or meet-up within ~75 miles is Free. Shipping negotiable.
Have a look at the pictures and then READ ON!
Click on any picture to enlarge the photo and to scroll through the gallery

Click on any picture to enlarge the photo and to scroll through the gallery

Click on "Show More" above to see all 24 pictures in this gallery

The symmetrical pinstripe grain of this Spruce top is simply beautiful. If PRS gave Spruce tops a rating, this would be a 10 Top for sure. The physical condition of the guitar would be best described as excellent, conservatively rated at 9.8 on a scale of 10. Hard to find in a 24 year old guitar. The front, back, sides, neck and headstock are perfect. There is one tiny fleck of the clear coat chipped off at the binding edge as seen above and to the left of the rear strap button in photo #23. There is an even smaller one in the back edge below the toggle switch. The chrome shines as new and the frets are in un-played condition. The original hang tag, truss wrench, original strap buttons, Piezo owners manual and Ted McCarty insert card are in the case. The original case has some scuffs on it, one sticker and some tape on the handle. Th leather is in good condition, even on the edges and all the latches work. This guitar case has been moved around a lot, but it doesn’t look as though the guitar was ever played outside the house.

PRS Hollowbody I & II guitars are among the most versatile models that PRS has ever made. They work well for any style of performance, capable of excellent lead and rhythm tones for rock, country, blues, soul, jazz, pop, etc. There is nothing they can’t do. Ther are many, many Hollowbody I & II guitars out there, old and new. Very few players have these deep body Archtop models. Since production began on these guitars in 1998, the PRS Hollowbody & deep body Archtop guitars have stood above others in the music industry for both natural and amplified tone. When I bought my first PRS Hollowbody in 2003, I noticed immediately and have often said since: “These guitars cut right through the mix on stage. Every note of your tone carries through and doesn't have to be obnoxiously loud to be heard. Each note of a six string chord rings out with clarity and in perfect balance to each other”. I’ve owned dozens of PRS Hollowbody and Archtop’s since then. They never disappoint. I gig two of these Archtops every weekend, going on 13 years now.

The deep body Archtop models have a broader and more resonant voice than the common Hollowbody I & II models produced beside them for five years. As a higher end version of the thin-line PRS Hollwbody design, PRS Archtop guitars are four inched deep and were often built with a mother-of-pearl signature inlay on a rosewood headstock face. They were also available with or without the Piezo option on board. The fixed bridge, whether adjustable or non-adjustable provides excellent tuning stability. In and around 2003, PRS had begun to shift their focus to developing second tier (S2) and third tier (SE) instruments. We all know how that turned out. In comparison, the production techniques required to build high quality Archtop guitars was considered to be too demanding. The Archtop production line was discontinued and Archtop availability was relegated to Private Stock only.

The original Archtop Bass & Treble pickups in this guitar are perfectly matched to control hollow body guitar feedback completely. I’ve never done anything but plug my guitars directly into my amps going on 50 years, but you can dress your tone further with whatever pedals you like and the guitar responds beautifully. The deep body makes it great for playing unplugged around the house as well. The solid mahogany back, paired with this thick spruce top gives it warm excellent natural resonance & tone, which are really well heard in a quiet room. The back of these deep body Archtop I guitars is a single piece of mahogany, which is bowl cut, leaving a center post to support the bridge. This design transfers the resonance throughout the body while controlling feedback (see photo above taken through the top f hole of this guitar). The deep body Archtop II has a brighter sounding maple top & back, which is the primarily the only difference between any PRS I and PRS II model.

I commonly use an Archtop II Piezo for solo acoustic gigs. I’ve never used the Archtop Treble/Bass humbuckers in that particular guitar. In fact, I took them right out, as a bench project during Covid. The Piezo is more than capable of creating genuine acoustic tone, and sounds even more natural in the absence of the magnetic humbuckers. The playability is phenomenal compared to a traditional acoustic guitar. The Archtop Bass & Treble pickups will roar if you choose, which makes this guitar the best of all worlds for looper performers. I don’t use a looper either, but the ability to lay down an acoustic loop and switch to creamy lead tones with a flick of the mini-toggle would be priceless.

A Word About Core PRS Guitars:

PRS has always made great guitars and they still do today. From 1985 until 2002, all PRS guitars were core PRS guitars. The 2001 Santana III was their first model to be created as a second-tier instrument. Basically, a financial decision to explore the lower price point market with an eye on producing guitars off-shore. Their USA and off-shore guitars are essentially made by two different companies, creating two different families of instruments. There are the cores in one family and everything else in the other (not to mention the Wood Library pieces or of course Private Stock, both in a league of their own). In a broad perspective of the PRS line of guitars, the SE models were generally pretty good as a strong representative of core guitars they were meant to emulate. The cost of an SE costs 75% less than its core version and you get 60% less of a guitar. Not a bad deal. The SE Hollowbody does not fit into that description. The SE Hollowbody guitars are not even close. The genuine, core PRS Hollowbody and deep Archtop guitars are complex in construction. The cost savings required to produce a more affordable SE version is a difficult hill to climb. In my personal experience, every Hollowbody core I’ve owned or played is LEVELS ABOVE every SE Hollowbody that I’ve ever encountered. You can pay 65% less for an SE version of the Hollowbody get 20% of the core.

Just the opinion of a PRS enthusiast that has bought, sold, owned and gigged over 300 PRS guitars across the last 25 years. PRS doesn’t even make an Archtop SE, nor are they building Core Archtops outside of Private Stock. The only practical way to get one is in the used market. There aren’t that many around and they’ve all achieved vintage status at almost 25 years old or older.

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$4,600.00 includes shipping anywhere in the lower 48.

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